Marco Giallini

ICONIC INTERVIEW | Laura Scatena

“Acting? It is a hidden but unbridled passion”

A seventeenth-century building overlooks the dome of Saint Agnese in Piazza Navona. It is open and harmonious; its sophisticated and essential furnishings are heavily tied to art. G-Rough is an unconventional luxury suite, sister hotel with Palazzina G in Venice and part of the chain Design Hotels. Ten suites and a contemporary wine gallery (and project space) are laid out over five floors, its majesty seen in a subdued luxury rich in history. Rough plaster and the history behind it emerge from the dull walls, the original antique cement tiles from the floors have been recovered and enhanced, and timeless furnishings from masters Giò Ponti, Ico Parisi and Guglielmo Ulrich are alluded to in the structure’s every area. The atmosphere is refined, this place has a strong identity as a private residence where you can go at your own pace beyond the times and spaces of a traditional hotel.

It is a place that unleashes theatrical magic, and the historical magnificence contained in the Eternal City, Rome – the Capital of the World. And for one day, it is the scene for our interview with irrepressible Marco Giallini. A leather jacket and hat. Marco’s “tempestuous” distraction leads to answers that wouldn’t be in a normal interview. It is an unconventional interview.

His friends have given him the nickname Dottor Divago, or “Doctor Digress,” because he starts a conversation, gets excited, and then changes the topic. Hungry for life, he has had a thousand different jobs: dockworker, painter, and deliveryman. Today, he charms us as he talks about his role in the film Io sono Tempesta. “He is a character that masks his fragility with aggression; he is hyperactive, fun, but with a veil of melancholy and loneliness.” Thanks to a series of very lucky projects, including his participation in the cult series “Romanzo Criminale” and in films like “A.C.A.B”., “Posti in piedi in paradiso” and above all, “Perfetti sconosciuti”, he has been an authentic public phenomenon since 2016. Marco talks about his special relationships with Pierfrancesco Favino, Valerio Mastrandrea and Claudio Santamaria, his co-star in “Rimetti a noi i nostri debiti”, the first Italian film broadcast on Netflix, directed by Antonio Morabito.

“Sometimes it was impossible to shoot the
scene,” he

says. “All it took was one word too
many, jokes that get sloppied from chewing,
and a real friendship that goes beyond the set.”
“Marco, how did you become a successful actor
after so many years of working your way up?”
“As an actor, I make it my life, what I get from
various steps along the journey, and obviously
it takes talent to transmit all of that. And a little
luck in meeting directors and producers who
notice you. At one point, a film is successful
and then maybe after thirty films, you finally
get recognized and they shout “Ah Giallini” at
you at a restaurant instead of getting your name
wrong.”
“They stop you on the street…”
“I like talking, joking with, getting to know the
people who ask me for a picture. I am often the
one to start something. I have fun.”